So much for letting the debate linger or drama build. Only one day after the reserves were named for the All-Star Game, Minnesota power forward and league rebounding leader Kevin Love claimed the last spot on the Western Conference team.

While many praised the move, considering the season Love is having, one of the candidates for the final roster spot wasn’t too pleased. Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge went into Friday averaging 21.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. The Blazers are 26-24. Minnesota is 11-38.

“Now I know it’s about stats, not wins,” an upset Aldridge told The Oregonian after Portland fell to Indiana.

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NBA commissioner David Stern tabbed Love to replace Houston center Yao Ming, voted by fans to the starting lineup but out for the season with an ankle injury. Yao’s absence opened the door for Love, a first-time All-Star in his third season and the first member of the Timberwolves to earn a spot in the showcase since Kevin Garnett four years ago.

“This is an incredible honor for me and I’m so proud to be able to represent the Timberwolves organization at one of the league’s premier events,” Love said. “I’m thankful to commissioner Stern for giving me his support, as well as to all the great fans in Minnesota who have been behind me and my teammates all season long.”

Love beat out a deep and talented field in the West for the last spot. Among those that had to be in the mix besides Aldridge were Memphis forward Zach Randolph, Lakers forward Lamar Odom and Phoenix guard Steve Nash.

Even though the Wolves own the worst record in the conference, Love is in the midst of an historic season. The 6-foot-10 UCLA product is averaging 21.4 points and 15.5 rebounds. No player has averaged 20 and 15 since Moses Malone in 1982-83. He’s also on pace to become the first player in league history to average 12 rebounds while shooting better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.

The league leader in double-doubles (43) has a current streak of 34, the second-longest in the last 25 seasons. Love is also one of just 19 players with a 30-30 game, which he accomplished on Nov. 12 in a win over New York. He’s the franchise’s second All-Star injury replacement, joining Garnett in 1997. That’s the first of K.G.’s record-tying 14 consecutive selections.

“I’m really happy for Kevin,” Wolves head coach Kurt Rambis said. “He worked extremely hard this offseason to elevate his game and learn how to consistently perform at a high level in this league. This recognition is well-deserved, and exciting news both for Kevin personally and our organization as a whole.”

The All-Star Game is Feb. 20 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will be broadcast live on TNT and ESPN Radio at 8 p.m. ET.

Too many experts full of BS, and not enough people who can spell on this forum.
Whether his team is winning or not, Love works harder than anyone out there.
Aldridge is having a great season too, but someone has got to miss out.

I guess the NBA, and probably Stern himself, lives on th East Coast and has to go to bed early and misses all the Blazer games. Ridiculous. Just visit nba.com – even on big nights, like tonight, there are no pictures rotating through of the Blazers beating one of the best teams in the NBA, and LA having a career night! Unbelievable.

I mean I get it, there is no money in supporting Portland. The NBA has “stars” and will highlight those stars… to sell jerseys.

Love wins rebounds but doesnt get his team wins. Not an all-star in my book. Im a heat fan and i think Lamarcus Aldrige should be in there instead of Love. Portland now doesnt have their star player in Roy and no Oden but they are winning. If your argument is because of his stats. then why is pau garnett and duncan in the all star game. Their stats are not that good. but they are helping their team win. An All-Star should be combined with stats and wins. Blake Griffin deserves the slot because he helps his team and has better win loss record right now. Love is a selfish player even die hard t-wolves fan says he is selfish and plays no D.

after all that ranting i found the solution for the all star voting, intially i thought the fans shouldn’t be allowed to vote (allen iverson two years in a row yao this year and tmac on the verge last year) clearly the fans are way too biased and stupid but i am also the first one to get all over lebron for being afraid to compete in the dunk contest, he owes it to the fans who make sure his bank account is full so i acknowledge this is a fans game so this is my solution, have the coaches make out a 20 man ballot for each conferance, out of that 20 have the fans vote the starters and have the coaches vote the 7 reserves there fore eliminating stupid votes like ones for yao who is not only out for the season but probably out forever this is a fans game but clearly alot of fans are ignorant and stupid. i am from boston but when i voted this was my ballot rose wade lebron amare and dwight, just because i am from boston doesn’t mean im going to sit there and convince myself any of the big 4 are better than those guys the closest is rondo but you cant ignore what rose is doing, also what is the deal with voting bosh instead of boozer, boozer has better numbers for an equally good team but his team only has ONE all star, clearly the second or third what ever they are today team in the east deserves two before the heat deserve 3

oh yea i completely forgot about zach randolph, he deserves to be in it too. the forwards should be the two starters, i like durant and melo and then zach randolph aldridge love and griffin with gasol as yaos replacement like i said, the all star game is anual and alotta guys get in on legacy votes its stupid

also as far as monta ellis his numbers are there but im glad hes not in it, because of this tiny little details HES NOT A CENTER OR A POWER FORWARD remember a few years ago when chris bosh got injured and stern replaced him with mo williams and at some points in the game RASHARD LEWIS had to play shaq because dwight howard cant play 48 minutes and KG was banged up yeah im glad stern chose love because even as far as the numbers go they both have them and while monta is on a better team (not saying much) love is a big man and is going to match up better against dwight, i mean unless you think monta can defend him on the post, get a life this is why the fans shouldn’t vote because biased idiots like all of you, now if manu got injured then id be all for monta getting in but how about you replace big men with big men guards with guards and swingmen with swingmen, how about that, that sound ok?

kevin love blake griffin and lamarkus aldridge all deserve to be in this pau gasol should be the replacement center because hes the closest most deserving on to a center plus he has numbers dirk deserves to be there and while i love tim and the spurs are great the all star game happens once a year for a reason, tim doesn’t have the numbers this year and while his spurs are on top putting him in this takes a spot away from one of those 3 , aldridge is a no brainer, he has the numbers and he is the only reason the blazers arnt the cavs griffin deserves to be in it because the bad record is more a testiment to a bad start not to mention its a fans exibition game and everyone wants to see him in it not to mention its in LA and kevin love is putting up moses malone numbers and while the wolves are terrible its nice to reward a player who still puts in the effort on a bad team. now as far as duncan goes if this was a decade all star game then hed be in it, but theres an all star game EVERY year tims gotten his before and im sure he won’t be the upset if he doesn’t get his like 13th or what ever it is, the point is reward these young kids for what theyve done the league is a better place when more teams are competitive and when teams like the clippers and wolves have recognition its a postive message to the organization

fck you Stern. You piece of sht. You know Monta deserved it this year. Stop holding grudges and put him in. If you’re gonna say record matters, how r u gonna put a guy on the worst team in the west into the all-star game. Who cares if he’s the leading rebounder? He gets those rebounds with every teams lazy efforts against the twolves.

K Love has tenacity like Sir Charles Barkley – His rebounding numbers and the rest of his stellar stats speaks for itself. The T-wolves may not have an above 500 record but Love’s tenacity, hunger and effectiveness on the boards deserve the All Star Call up – This gives minnesota fans a lot to cheer about and mainatain pride in their developing team. K-Love showed maturity and performed admirably with Team USA in the World Championships. He will no doubt be stellar in this year’s All star game. Can’t wait to see the best of the best in this years exhibition. Well done Commissioner! well done Kevin! T-wolves and the NBA!

L Train is a far better player than love! I have every reason to vote for love (being portland native) but just not near as good and deffinetly not as intertaining! Not to mention its easy to rack up rebounds if you play for a horrible team that never makes anything! For you all that think diff your on crack!!!!!! or racist (d stern idiot) C IN P-TOWN!

KEVIN LOVE IS VERY DESERVING OF THIS HONOR. i DO ALSO THINK ‘MONTE ELLIS’ IS ALSO VERY DESERVING IN HIS OWN RIGHT. I MEAN C’MON HE’S CARRYING HIS TEAM ALL AROUND, NOT TO MENTION HE IS IN THE TOP FOUR LEADING STATS IN POINTS, HE IS A TREMENDOUS ATHLETE AND NO RESPECT IS GIVEN. HE IS RARELY TALKED ABOUT, AND HE HAS DRASTICALY IMPROVED HIS ALL AROUND STATS EVERY YEAR HE ‘S BEEN IN THE LEAGE. NOT TO MENTION HE DOESNT HAVE THE BIG NAME HELP LIKE MOST OTHER PLAYERS. SO GIVE MONTE ELLIS A SECOND LOOK NBA FANS!!!!!!!!

man to think that heaps of players missed out on the west all star team just shows how dominate the western conference is, if any team from the west doesnt win the championship this year i will be very suprised……

I actually do hope that next season, either Yao is around or another West Center becomes dominant. If Yao is active for a little bit next season but isn’t playing the All-Star game, that’ll at least give Stern the opportunity to stick someone more deserving in than Andrew Bynum/whoever the Lakers’ starting C is next year. Of course, if a new West Center takes the league – and, more importantly, fans – by storm, then it won’t even be an issue.

Both Aldridge and Love are deserving. That said, I’ve seen a lot of Portland games and a handful of Minnesota games. Even with injuries to Roy and countless big men, Aldridge has a much better team than Love, as well as a much better coach in Nate McMillan. Wes Matthews and Nic Batum had already received rave reviews for their contributions to their teams last year, and this year, with Roy out and their natural development as players, they have only gotten better. Matthews, Batum, Fernandez, etc. Portland’s outside threats opens up Aldridge’s midrange game, and they are good enough passers along w/ Andre Miller to get him some easy alley oops. Love’s best teammate (Beasley) is a one-on-one scorer with talent no doubt but also 1. tunnel vision and 2. questionable shot selection. So while they are both deserving, Love’s individual brilliance is slightly better than Aldridge’s slightly lower stats and higher team success. Aldridge is like the middle ground to Love and Duncan this season; Love on a bad team but terrific individual performances, Duncan on the team with far and away the best record with subdued stats by his standards but still a constant impact on the court (if Garnett can still make it on the Eastern team, then Duncan should easily still make it on the Western team). Aldridge has more team success than Love and greater individual success than Duncan, and unfortunately coaches/Stern went with the extremes. But that doesn’t mean that neither Love or Duncan are deserving all stars as well. As a UT alum and a big Portland fan, I wish Aldridge all the best. But I have no problem with Kevin Love making the all-star team.

Look at Ilgauskas’s stats and Cleveland’s record from his first all star appearance in 2003 before you diss K Love’s appearance. Aldridge is one of my favorite players, as are Love, Griffin, Z Bo and Duncan. They all deserved to make the team for different reasons for the most part. But sometimes there aren’t just enough spots, just like w/ Monta missing out on a guard spot.

I think that Aldridge deserves it more than Griffin or Love. I do think that the team’s record should have bearing on whether they are an all star or not. Post Lebron, Cleveland is in the gutter. With Lebron they had the league’s best record. None of the aforementioned guys are as good as Lebron, however, my thoughts are that Aldridge has done more to carry his team than Love or Griffin. And that’s what being an all star is about. Plus, Aldridge was dominant over both Griffin and Love in the past meetings with those teams. I feel for Aldridge about this situation. He clearly deserved it more than Griffin or Love at this point. But it doesn’t really matter all that much in the long run. All three will be in the all-star games in years to come is my belief.

Some people will never be able to see the intangibles of a player. They can only judge from what they see, the tangibles. Tim Duncan appears to be an average player to the low NBA IQ eye, but team players / leaders win championships, and NBA is all about that, a team sport. Replace Aldridge for Duncan at Spurs, and the Spurs would not be nearly as successful. With Love, maybe… if Manu and Tony are still around.

For those people who are saying that Love doesn’t deserve to be in all star because he is in a losing team or in a team not bound to playoffs why is it the Jordan was an all star when he came back to Washington? Washington never did it to the playoffs in neither season. And for those people who are saying that Griffin does not deserve to be an all star wake up.Griffin has recorded 27 consecutive double doubles .

Love over Aldridge. First of all, I feel that the Western Head Coach should have made that selection, selecting Yao’s replacement. This replacement should have came from the first squad reservist players. Then the coach should select a person to replace the remplacement person. Stern should not be included in selecting any player to the Teams. This selection should be done by the coaches of the respective team. Stern should not have had his hand in any selection of players. A change of rules needs to be set for the next upcoming ALL-Star selection in the future. Love should have NEVER been considered over Aldridge. Aldridge has played above and beyond. You can’t ask for no more of him. His performance has been out of reach. When Roy when out, Aldridge was ask to step up his game. He has done what was ask of him to do? Love on the other hand has had ONLY one game 31-31. And yet as of today, Porland’s standing at 26 and Minnosota at 11 in the standings. I ask myself who went to work? No I can’t say congrat to Love, because Aldridge was shafted by Stern for Love. Stern must be looking for “A Great Hope”. You make the call!

Love has been great this year, … but Aldridge deserves it more. Aldridge’s stats are good, but his stats would be much better on a team like the Wolves. His rebounds total and points total would’ve been much better without Camby and Roy. With all the injuries (again) the Blazers are still playing good basketball, under the leadership of Andre Miller, and new go-to-guy Lamarcus Aldridge. They both should be all-stars, instead of Gasol and Westbrook. Gasol isn’t really consitent this year, and Westbrook is a maybe future all-star, but he’s not there yet.

Duncan is playing less minutes on the best team (for one reason –> a great Duncan in the playoffs). He still is one of the greatest power forwards in the NBA, and deservers the spot for sure.

Love deserved the post more than Yao did. When the fans vote for a player it is based upon who is their favorite player not the ones that actually deserve to be on the team. Love might be on a losing team but he is playing extremely well this season. Yao is injured and hasn’t played in how many games. As for Aldridge, he should realize that you don’t need to be on a winning team to earn a spot on the All-Star Team, it’s shouldn’t be about winning or losing, but who is the best.

I think Monta shoulda been in the all-star game.. Kevin Love, I give him props on being on the All-star game.. Monta is 6th in scoring, 3rd in stealing, and one of the most clutch player i’ve ever seen. Come on now, Tim Duncan over Lamarcus? SMH

What about Nash as the Commisioner’s choice? Once again, Nash goes over %50 from the floor, over %40 from three, second in the league in assists with fewer playing minutes than the other point guards and, lastly, all this on a very average team.

Get Duncan out. Get Aldridge in. No more old players in the west. Get Kobe out. Get Monta in.

Before you all start banging on about Kobe being the best in the world blah blah blah… if he has a shocker at the ASG then I won’t seem like such an idiot for saying it. Kobe simply can’t keep up with Blake, Dwight, Wade etc.

take blake griffins rookie tim duncan to old and put monta ellis and lamarcus aldridge and im glad love got it but the lifetime achievement award is so bias and raymend felton over joe johnson ……………………………………………………. BOSTON CELTICS WERE ROBBED LAST YEAR

Man, I am SO happy Kevin Love made the team this year. I do understand that his team sucks and isn’t winning at all, but you can’t deny a guy with these types of numbers. The fact that nobody’s averaged 15 rebounds a game since malone in ’83, AND that he’s averaging over 20 points and shooting the way he is from deep, there’s no way this guy shouldn’t be on the all-star team this season.

Love is a good choice but no Nash, come on! This is not fair, increase the limit of players allowed in a team and increase the all-star game’s playing time. Instead of 48 minutes make it 60 minutes. Expand the game to five quarters or something.

Both Love and Aldridge deserve to be in the game. Aldridge because he’s carrying his team and Love because he’s racking up throw back numbers. I’d pick both these guys over Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan. The All Star Game should be a chance for young talent to shine not and just an opportunity for the brand name stars to rack up more Hall of Fame brownie points.

Kevin Love is a good defensive player, and the whole thing about the t wolves getting blown out….we don’t get blown out a whole lot, love is getting his stats against good teams and bad teams. The t wolves have been in almost every game this year, but the last four minutes of the game is when it usually falls apart (no fault of kevin’s) He deserved it.

Everyone who says Kevin Love should be an all star just from stats alone, obviously doesn’t watch T-wolves games. I mean his stats would suggest hes better then Dwight Howard for crying out loud. He doesn’t play defense at a high level, is on a losing team and not an exciting player to watch. If you your talking about stats consider this, even in games where the Timber Wolves get blown out, he still left on the floor.

Lamarcus needed 2 be a all star the nba is a joke…..he needed 2 be there over Blake and Love…. they both have losing records…. it doen’t make no sense at all… i hate the nba and the all star voting….. based off of history Tim Duncan makes it are you serious??????? Blake would not be doing numbers if eric gordon was out 4 the season like brandon roy ????? come on it i can’t stand it…. and Rudy Gay should have made it…. but Lamracus is the biggest snub in the all star voting….with Camby and Oden and Roy out…. he has taken over the whole season…. Im very hurt Tim Duncan please stay oput the all star so Aldrige can make …. no player with a losing record should make the all star team….. How did Chirs bosh make it…. over Josh Smith i don’t understand….. he bneen hurt all season…. plus he got D wade and Lebron …..nba i can’t stand it…

Okay…. So Duncan gets in with poor stats because he’s on a winning team (and he’s Tim Duncan). Love gets in because of stats even though he’s on a losing team. LaMarcus has better stats than Duncan and is on a winning team. Anyone else see a problem here?

Yao ming was voted in as a starter because fans around the WORLD can vote not just inside the US so CHINA will drop a buckload of votes for there basketball figure yao ming. That explains why he was in for all of you that said why is he in there. And duncan is a legend so he’ll be an allstar until he retires or hits the age of 34-35 regardless of young talent such as Aldridge or love putting up career numbers.

i think that TD should be out, just being on a winning team doesn’t mean you should be an all-star, and i think Love being a starter was planned, everyone knew that Yao wouldn’t play, so by not choosing Love as a reserve, they knew they could get him in as a starter doing this. Lamarcus Aldridge should be an all-star, he easily deserves it WAY more than TD, same with the others mentioned above, but i do think that Love deserves to be an all-star, with the numbers he’s putting up, he had to be in, more than griffen does this year.

This is a travesty, LaMarcus Aldridge has earned a spot on the All Star team. He’s worked so hard for the past 5 years, is carrying the Blazers on his back and is in playoff contention. I believe Stern owes it to Aldridge, this just isn’t right. LA is right when he says it is all about stats and not performance. This is disappointing to say the least.

Z-Bo or Lemarcus Aldritch over TD, and I think Aldritch is more deserving stats wise. The person that made the LAME reference of Portland being the only western conferance playoff team to get snubbed. Take notice of the Memphis Grizzlies whom are neck and neck, the Phoenix Suns still have a chance too. So what if Phoenix or Memphis tops Portland at the end of the year? You still going to be arguing that Portland was the team “in the playoffs” that got snubbed? The playoffs are later and thus you can NEVER make such a statement before the all-star game!

When its THIS difficult to choose a reserve (because so many of them are so deserving) you have to go with character. Nash is the greatest character guy I’ve seen in the NBA. All his philanthropic duties can really be promoted during All Star weekend. That’s not only good for him (although, I doubt he does all of it for the publicity) but its also good for the NBA

Tim Duncan should NOT be an allstar this year. Neither should Kevin Love. I’m sorry, but Aldridge and Odom deserve it more and they are on WINNING teams! Love was a “political” choice… trust me on this. Odom has been in the league for 12 years and never been an allstar… he is the 2nd best player on the Lakers this year, ahead of Gasol, but doesn’t get the nod? He may not have another year like this. Can’t he be an allstar once in his career? Love has many more years in the league to be an allstar, plus averaging a few more rebounds than Aldridge shouldn’t give Love the spot… Aldridge destroyed Love every time they’ve played against each other! David Stern, I do understand the need for political choices, but this is just unfair to deserving players. Time Duncan should be replaced by Adlridge and Odom should have replaced Yao. No Love this year.

R U CRAZY MAN K-LOVE HAS WAY BETTER STATS HE AVERAGE 43 DOUBLE-DOUBLES 35 IN A ROW THE LAST ONJE TO THAT MOSES MALONE IN 83 . HE GOT 31-31 GAME LAT [ERSON TO DO THAT WAS IN 85 AN IT WAS MALONE .JUST BECAUSE HE ON A BAD TEAM U DONT NEED TO HATE ON K- LOVE SHOW SOME LOVE. WHAT DID LAMAR DO ?????

Lamar Odom doesn’t produce the wins all by himself, he has Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher, Ron Artest and one of the best benches in the league. Kevin Love has Michael Beasley and Luke RIdnour and the youngest team in the league, of course the T Wolves are not going to be producing wins, especially in the Western Conference. Kevin Love is playing at an intense level working on getting all those rebounds which is not easy to do in the NBA with all the tall and athletic players with crazy verticals. Kevin Love brings consistency and leadership to a team which is what All-Stars do. He can’t win games all by himself but he can play at a high level every game and put up those crazy numbers.

well… K-Love making it is definitely deserving, it would’ve been nice if Zach Randolph or Lamarcus Aldridge made it also. Carrying a team and contributing into playoff contention should be a well-recognized achievement.
Agreed with what most of the Tim Duncan comments, it’s not fair to be biased due to his past achievements and his team’s winning record.
EAST RESERVES ARE STILLL WHACKK

I beg to differ about having stats as the basis of an All-Star appearance. That’s why we fans get to vote who we want to see at the ASG in Staples.

Kevin love has been very consistent in his game, although that doesn’t show up on the winning column. It only shows that one heck of a player does not a playoff team make.

Aldridge shouldn’t have bad feelings about not making the all-star team. For me, he has proven that he is a force to reckon with, even if Portland is missing its key players (Roy, Camby, Oden, Pryzbilla). If he continues Portland’s winning ways, I won’t hesitate to vote for him again next season.

Now, somebody explains to me how in the hell can you be an allstar without playing a single game in a season?
I guess it makes sense if you don’t think about it !
This so called commissioner David Stern is a big JOKE and should just resign and let someone with more common sense make decisions because apparently common sense is not that common any more.

Aldridge is not an allstar, and yet Yao Ming managed to be one. What is this ? Nobody knows what they’re doing anymore !

its pretty simple actually as the starting 5 for all star games is done by the fans. China has a population of 1.3 billion people and a lot of people from China vote which is why Yao is an allstar each and every year and will be as long as he is in the NBA.

Congratulations to Kevin Love for being selected as Yao’s replacement, he definitely deserves some type of recognition for his efforts. It astounds me that for years that Kevin Garnett played in the All-Star game, he represented the Minnesota Timberwolves and didn’t have some of the numbers that Love has and it was alright for him to be chosen either as a starter or as a reserve and Minnesota didn’t have winning numbers then either? Come on people, give me a break. Yes there are other players out there that deserve to be on the All-Star team, but unfortunately there are not enough spots, but I do feel that the only reason Tim Duncan was chosen by the coaches is because of his teams record and then to have 4 players from Boston to be chosen from the East, and Doc Rivers is coaching the East, give me a break and then to put Chris Bosh in there just to make up the difference for the Miami Heat, please.

First of all, Yao Ming should have never been on the roster in the first place, then we wouldn’t even be having this discussion, but he was and then the fans who have about as much sense as a gnat it seems, voted him in as a starter and he hasn’t even played enough this season and they knew he wasn’t going to be playing at all the rest of the season, why vote for him in the first place? So it is up to the Commissioner to choose someone to replace him and in my opinion, Love is as good a choice as any. Again like I said, no one griped when Garnett was chosen as a representative of the Timberwolves so why should there be such a gripe for Kevin Love?

Congrats Kevin and show them what it’s all about; and as far as I’m concerned, Griffin will have ample time to prove himself as an All-Star after all he is being showcased in just about every other event of the weekend, let someone else take that spot on the West All-Star team roster that deserves it and has proven themself this season such as Aldridge or Odom or Randolph; just becuase the game is being played in Los Angeles doesn’t mean that we have to have LA written all over the place! He will have ample opportunity to play in other All-Star games, let one of these other guys who have been around and putting up numbers represent their team at the event. Just sayin’.

I don’t think anyone should have a problem with this selection, no matter who Kevin Love was picked over. When Stern picked David Lee and Kaman as reserves last year, we all said “about time”. We had noo problem at all for a young forward having a monster year playing for a lousy team (such as Lee) make the cut.
And this year, Kevin Love is having the kind of year that stays in the books. So what if the Wolves are lousy? Yeah, numbers aren’t everything, but THAT kind of numbers are.

Also do not forget that Love made the effort of getting on USA Basketball and was a major contributor in getting the World Championship back to US after over a decade. No small accomplishment and meant he didn’t even get a summer vacation. I think such commitment and dedication should be awarded.

Congrats to Love, fully deserves to be there, 21 points, 15 rebounds a game while shooting above 40% from 3? That really begs the question why he wasn’t picked as a reserve by the coaches in the first place. It’s about time the coaches stopped picking players for the All-Star game on reputation and winning records. It’s not Love’s fault the organisation he plays for is garbage. The All-Star game should be an individual reward for that seasons play only, and on that note, Aldridge or Odom should have been picked over Duncan. I mean, Duncan has had a fantastic career, and is one of the best of all time, but he has not been an All-Star calibre player this season, where as Aldridge and Odom both have.

Yeah! alright kevin love is an allstar great move kevin love i love what your performance is great work after all of your work you deserve this oppurtunity to you make something in allstar that i will love kevin love

He deserved a position in the All Star Selection… After the World Basketball Championship, I know that this will gonna be a stellar season for Kevin in the NBA… Hope next Season they will earn more “W’s” He’s fun to watch with putting points and collecting rebounds at the same time, keep up the effort and intensity on the court…

Aldridge bought his ticket to see his mom a month ago. He has never expected to go. The media hyped him up. It is easy to get fifteen rebounds when no one else is rebounding on an 11 win team. Three tips to the bucket in garbage time is three rebounds?

This ALL Star game would make a joke out of itself without players like Love, Parker or Ginobili.
Love is the most effective player in the leaque by far. It would be a joke to leave him out.
The fact that Yao MIng, most of the season out so far, was selected tells you this All Star game is not something to take very seriously…

great selection, congrats to love. on the other hand how in the world griffin (as someguy said) is not worth a spot in the all-star game??? his stats are as impressive as love’s and he is changing the whole mentality in clipperland (something that seemed impossible) he’s making them an exciting team (that more unlikely) and also is getting wins in the prossess. that of duncan, no disrespect but as good as he is and as good team as he has, the stats are simply out of the all-start standard. why don’t make an extra game like the rook vs sophs and make one of the career achivers or something like that they could put there shaq, carter, nash, jermaine, and all those guys that acording to their great career deserve a spot, just not anymore in the all-star game.

K.Love has had a great season. The All Star game is about stats. It isn’t about who can do a 360 alley oop slam or who’s team is doing better. Want to talk about dunks? Then go to a chat about the dunk contest. Want to talk about who’s more worthy because of team record? Go to an MVP forum. Kevin Love has shown consistent 20-15, that’s why he’s been chosen. If 20-15 doesn’t impress you, then I don’t know what to say. Even if he is on the Wolves, the last team in the conference, he’s still putting up beastly numbers. Give him props for providing those numbers day in and day out. Learn to give the guy some props and stop saying who should have been in it. I can understand it’s frustrating for the players that hoped to achieve all star status, but learn to give kudos and work even harder. Come on, with his 20-15 stats, he pulls out a 31-31 game. He deserves it, just as Aldridge and others do, just be happy for the guy.

there is no doubt Love deserves this.cmon the stats speak for themselves.15 boards and shooting over 40%.the fact that his team isnt that good shouldnt matter.its about individual accolades.besides all those loses are definitely not attributed to Love’s play.its easy to avg a lot of points on a losing team but to get rebounds is still something u have to work for hard and its not a given being a top minute earner on a bad team.
Aldrige and Odom deserved it too.in fact to really make it fair Pau and Duncan should not be on this team.Pau might have nice stats on paper and he is amongst the top ten in most big men categories but he has disappointed since his outburst in the first month.he plays soft and is definitely a key component in the Lakers struggles.he is a shadow of his self.Odom is the second best Laker this season and Pau has no business in this years all star game.he is still getting things done even with Kobe jacking up crazy shots and taking the team out of their flow.
Duncans team might be the best in the league but both parker and ginobili are bigger contributors to this.dont reward a guy simply cuz he has done so much for the league.thats not fair towards guys that have worked hard all year and might never get a chance again.Duncan already had his time to shine and will enter the record books as possibly the best PF to ever play the game.
Aldrige is having a killer season.Portlands best player,Roy,is out for the season while Oden is out for life and yet this team remains in a playoff position and Aldrige should receive much of the credit.
so picking Love was def the right move and a well deserved selection but how could Gasol and Duncan be in there when they are not amongst the top 2 on their team,Pau because he is soft and Duncan because he is not getting the minutes as of now.stop the politics and reward players for their actions on the court.

It’s ridiculous to see that all 7 other Western Conference playoff teams got at least 1 player named an All-Star, but Portland is the team who gets their player snubbed. Forget all the injuries Portland has suffered through again, Aldridge is having a career year and keeping the team afloat in the West. He has won every head-to-head matchup with Griffin and Love this year, not to mention his monster game against the Spurs just before the All-Star selection. He is by far the biggest snub on this year’s All Star list. The coaches really screwed this one up.

really happy about love being chosen but aldridge and bynum deserved it too and yeah i think duncan was just there coz hes been a good player in the past but now i think he should give some new guys a chance to be an allstar

BTW allstar selection should NOT be based on what team you are on, they select a person 2 be an allstar based on how you perform and not how your team performs

excellent choice by commissioner stern! lamarcus aldridge would have been just as deserving, having carried the blazers on his back all season, but the commissioner had to make a choice, and kevin love definitely deserves an all-star nod this season, by just grinding it out game after game; he’s definitely having a great, consistent season…

all star team SHOULD be about stats and not wins. it gives great players from bad teams a chance to shine. i think they should go more of the statistic route for selecting all stars because it’s so much more tangible criteria. then you could have guys like kevin love, monta ellis, steve nash, zach randolf, andrew bogut a chance to be on the all star team without so much controversy.

I am very happy for the TWolves and Klove. Been a fan of the team for many years. I hope Kevin can keep up the pace and get the Wolves back on the map. If they could get an above average PG it could get interesting.

What about Andrew Bynum? He is from the host city LA…an actual center and got double the votes of Kevin Love…300,000 for love, 660,000 votes for Bynum. He seemed like the clear choice. Love is good, but I think Odom deserves it too and again with the event being held in LA…it would be nice to see more than just Kobe and Pau – especially when the entire East bench is the starting 4 of Boston…ugh.

having the 4 Boston players selected is a perfectly valid and fair move.those guys deserve to be on their because of their accomplishments for the year.
the east just doesnt have that many obvious all star selections and have those Celtics on the team is therfore totally legit.
being selected to the all star game is about your achievement as an individual and a team player for the season not to satisfy the home crowd.Are you telling me if this event were held in Cleveland you’d ask for some of those guys to be selected?
so how are you going to pick Bynum over Love.that is preposterous.Love is the leading rebounder in the league,is shooting over 40% from beyond the arc and has the second most double double,plus the last time he hasnt had a double double was months ago.and u want to pick Bynum who hasnt done anything all year.he is def an important player for this Lakers squad but looking at the bigger picture he has no business on this years all star team.
Pau has no business on it either and should have been replaced by Odom.if you are going to have to lakers they should be their 2 best players for the year which are Kobe and Odom.Pau is having good stats if u look at them on paper but he is def contributing to their struggles with his soft and inconsistent play and he is a mere shadow of his self compared to previous seasons.so why reward these guys just because of they made a name for them selves in past seasons or because the crowd wants them.
so what if the fans voted for Bynum twice as many times.the Lakers have a big time national TV presence while most ppl dont even get to watch Love play.i mean arent those fans the same ppl that voted Yao into the all star game even tho he barely played?

Bynum has been injured a majority of the season so far and the numbers he’s been putting up aren’t anything special. Pau Gasol can fill in the spot as the starting center for the West because he had an incredible start at center with Andrew Bynum out. David Stern chose Kevin Love because he is the most deserving player. K Love is an All Star in a bad team, simple as that.

APPARENTLY PLAYING ON A WINNING TEAM MEANS NOTHING TO ALLSTAR SELECTIONS. LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE SHOULD BE AN ALLSTAR, AND TO THINK YAO WAS SELECTED AS A STARTER W/O PLAYING IN A SINGLE GAME. NBA FANS ARE STUPID. TIM DUNCAN?, BLAKE GRIFFIN, AND KEVIN LOVE ARE ALLSTARS AND NO ALDRIDGE? NBA COACHES AND THE COMMISIONER ARE CONFUSED . THIS LEAGUE IS A JOKE AND IT’S TOO BAD.

Greg your an idiot. Yao Ming started off playing this year and even starting. He had limited minutes and still got injured and is now out for the rest of the season. And the reason Yao get voted in his because he has a big fan base in China and they produce a high number of votes for him. And Kevin Love more then deserves to be an All Star. Lemarcus Aldridge has a way better supporting cast than Kevin Love and no one play can win games by himself. The Trail Blazers had a great squad with Nicolas Batum, Lemarcus Aldiridge, Andre Miller, Brandon Roy and Greg Oden but the latter two got injured again. This still leaves the Trailblazers with Wesley Matthews and other decent players like Rudy Fernandez to fill in the void. The T Wolves has a young and bad team so of course they’re going to lose more games. The numbers that Kevin Love is producing are crazy, he’s averaging 15.5 RPG which is almost two more per game than Dwight Howard, 21.3 PPG while shooting 47% from the floor, 44% behind the line and 87% from the stripe and 2.5 APG, and has 43 double doubles out of 49 games. He brings efficiency, consistency and leadership every game which is what All-Stars do.

how can that be true dude?? of course being on a winning team is important, look at Boston, 4 all stars and there are pleny of dudes going round with better number than pierce, allan and KG…not to mention tim duncans selection over Love Randolph and Aldridge. somebodys gotta miss out it happens every year!

Great move. Kevin Love deserves all-star status. He is a silent operator inside the court. Scoring, rebounding, he’s excellent. A little on defense will put KL above everyone a season or 2 from now. As Shaq said “this kind of player comes out only once in ten years.” referring to KL. Shaq is right. Good luck KL.

I think if we can swap Tim Duncan for LaMarcus Aldridge than this squad is 100% fair. No offence to Duncan, who is still having a solid season and is the backbone of Spurs league topping success, but I do feel it’s time for him to step down like Nash, Kidd, O’Neal and Carter etc simply because there are players who deserve this spot more than him… Aldridge, Zach Randolph, Lamar Odom, Monte Ellis (no one’s talking about him, he’s 5th in the league in scoring per game!) and maybe even Rudy Gay, Kevin Martin and Luis Scola just to name a few…

you are a joke. he should turn down an invatation from the nba commisioner to the nba allstar game one of the biggist events on the calender because you think it is disrespectful to take the spot of an injured center who didnt deserve to be there in the first place.
you people are talking more kaka then truth. go kevin love!!!!!!!!!!!

Realllyyyy??? So Love gets to be on the All Star team just because he averages 5 more rebounds a game? Aldridge has won 15 more games than Love AND he did most of it without Brandon Roy. I know All Star selections aren’t about wins but the Timberwolves arent just bad but they’re the WORST TEAM IN THE WEST.

C’mon lets be real here, rebounds are the least impressive of all the major statistics.

are you crazy jay? rebound is the hardest thing to do in the sport of basketball.True,LaMarcus also deserves in the slot too but not including KL is a SUCK too.There are other players inluded in the reserves slot but not deserving thatn the two mentioned here.Good luck

Rebounds are not the hardest thing in basketball. And rebounds obviously dont make a difference if he can do all that and his team is still HORRIBLE. Besides any other big man can do what love does if they were put in that situation. Maybe 2 or 3 less rebounds but still have the same impact he has on the wolves (which does not help them win).

Wow this is complete garbage. Aldridge SHOULD BE AN ALL STAR! This year’s all star choices were complete BS. Especially Duncan. If you’re choosing between Aldridge and love. Aldridge is the obvious choice. He’s destroyed love every game this year and has done A LOT more for his team than Love.

A “young Tim Duncan with better shooting”? Clearly you NEVER saw Duncan his first few years. Tim was a BEAST, he could make all kinds of shots (watch the 99 finals). Kevin Love is nowhere near what Tim Duncan WAS at his best.

Opps, don’t get me wrong man. I love TD to death and as a matter of fact he is ma fav athlete. I am a Spurs fan way before TD drafted by Boston. TD became an allstar in his first season and Spurs is the winningest team in this decade since TD’s arrival. I followed TD’s career so please don’t give me that attitude. When I say ” reminds me of young TD …” doesn’t mean KLove is equal as TD was. His double-double feat is like TD’s, TD is good at bunk shots but Klove can score long 2 point shots and a 3 point. Other than that a young TD is far more better than KLove

Well deserved. Although I think Lamarcus Aldridge should be in instead of Tim Duncan. I respect Tim and what he’s offered during his career, but All-Star voting should be based on season evaluations, not what they’ve accomplished in the past or throughout their career.

The Allstar game is about individual performance, not about team play…Right?. I have said this before, Can you say that any big man in the NBA would average what they did the year before while playing with two of the top 3 players in the world…..Duncan?, Gasol? Griffin? Love? KG?, Josh Smith?, Amare?, Horford?, Bogut?, Odem?, Bynum?, Dirk?, Aldridge?, West?, Nene?, Jefferson?, Even a heathly Yao?, AND Even the best big man in the League Howard. The awnser is NO. Points would go down about 5 PPG OR MORE for every player. and when your not as involved with scoring your game can be altered in more then one way, as Chris has been a 20, 10 player for the last 5 seaons and now he’s down to 18.5 and 8.5. every part of your game can be changed when you go from the # 1 option to the #3 option. As every single one of the listed players above would now be if they joined LeBrone and Dwade. Not to mention that Gasols numbers are not far from Chris’s, Garnett’s numbers are less, Josh Smiths numbers are less the Chris’s, Odem, Jefferson, Nene, West, Bynum’s are less then Chris’s. Horfor, Bogut only average more BBP and RPG then chris. Now I know that offensive is not all in a Basketball game, but to say that Nene and Odem and Duncan and Garnette and West and Josh Smith are more diserving then Mr Chris Bosh…… Remember that he is playing with “thoes other 2″ guys. No one would average what they did the year before whil playing with them…… Am I wrong……………….NOPE.

allstar is an individual award. got it now why give an allstar spot to someone that is on a very good team with a very good coach just because the team should have more then one representing it because the celtics got four. that sounds like a childish arguement doesnt it? the celtics four are very worthy and its even better for them in the east. the only arguement in the east is chris bosh for josh smith. in the west its crazy but it was lamarcus aldridges time tim dunkens time has past maybe this was a reward for all the hardwork and memories over the years.stop the lifetime achivement awards. thats how we got allen iverson in the starting lineup last year. but i must admit that was good to see.

loves defence is horrible 15 rebounds a game an his defence is horrible. ok mr love 20 sumtn points and 15 watever baoards a game is not good enough for sum stukup basketball snobs. u need 5 blocks per game and 6 steals to be good enough but id hate to say these snobs would still find sumthn to moan about. but i think he is an allstar hardest worker in the NBA CONGRATULATIONS KEVIN LOVE and BLAKE must see BG GRIFFIN

“Imad” did you get the “Kenny Smith disease” of cource it should ALL ABOUT STATS it’s the ALL STAR game not the MVP RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! who cares if LOVE is in a LOSING TEAM his stats talks for itself. Not to mention he had a 30-30 game! That stat is a extremely rare stat!

the game is in l.a. and the nba wants this to be blake’s weekend. he’s supposed to play in the rookie game, they’re expecting him to win the dunk contest and now he’s going to finish it off with the allstar game. but he deserves to be there.

Kevin Love is an All Star in a terrible team. One player can not win games all by himself. Trailblazers have a way better team then the TWolves so of course they’re going to win more. Lemarcus Aldridge doesn’t single handedly win games for the Trailblazers. Kevin Love’s numbers are straight out ridiculous, he’s been doing it all this year with his minutes finally up. And this All Star weekend will be bigger for Kevin Love because he’s reuniting with his former teammate Russell Westbrook as they’re going to both to be All-Stars for the first time in the city where they played college basketball. These two former Bruins that led their team to the Final Four are going to lead the West in a win against the East. So give them a big all 8 clap because they’re going to take over Staples Center on All Star weekend.

what da hell are vyou on griffin has been a monster. why not say LA and love are more deserving then tim dunken.that statement has alot of truth to it. this allstar gig should be about the best players for the first half of the season. the clippers went from being my most hated to my favourite team. in my eyes that alone makes blake an allstar. on the other side san antone are one of the most boring teams in the league. if the never had manu i wouldnt watch them at all.

He deserved it a 100%! He’s playing very consistent and works very hard for everything he gained so far (not saying those other guys don’t). I do hope we can see him on a better team in the future, whether it’s on the Wolves that’d get some reinforcements or simply on a bigger team like the Spurs or the Heat, who both need a young and reliable big man soon, although salary cap will be a problem for the bigger teams that could use him. Anyway, I’m sure he’ll be spreading the Love for a long time and do it while breaking some more records!